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A look back (first published 3.1.2016): I flew through this airport many times during our two years in Campania. On one of the last trips I managed to lose my passport somewhere in duty free, but found it later waiting for me at my departure gate.

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Originally posted on The Phraser: Early morning outside the Aeroporto Internazionale di Napoli. Most airports I’ve met recently are soulless travel malls … apart from one – the Aeroporto Internazionale di Napoli. Early morning coffee at Aeroporto Internazionale di Napoli Naples International Airport, changing by the second, is glass-fronted and growing, but still full of…

A look back (first published 22 January 2016): One of my strongest childhood memories is of the dazzle and excitement of Christmas lights in a city park – in Salerno last year I saw the magic again. It’s hard to resist – why would you want to anyway?

A look back (first published in April 2015): since this visit to Benevento I’ve discovered another horse of Mimmo Paladino’s in Naples. This horse, possibly even more striking than the others, stands on the roof of the MADRE (Museum of contemporary Art DonnaREgina) in the city.

A look back (first published on 13 December 2015): I have made quite significant changes to this post – the skeleton is the same as the original but I have replaced much of the Angevin history with photographs. By the end of our two years in Naples I had visited this charterhouse so often that my library of photographs is more than my blog can hold. I hope you enjoy them, and that one day you’ll be able to visit the Certosa di San Martino yourself, because I know that my camera and I can’t do it justice.

The Certosa di San Martino and Castel Sant’Elmo dominate the Naples skyline

There are two chunks of prime real estate in Naples, two properties that swagger largest when you look up at the city from the sea. They’ve been together for centuries.

The highest of the two is Castel Sant’Elmo – the star-shaped fortress that looks like it’s been carved out of rock by a gifted sledgehammer. Right next to it is the Certosa di San Martino, proud when seen from below, but less obvious when approached by road.

The trouble with being the king of a niche is that however impeccable your talents your kingdom may not be big enough for those outside the niche to notice your crown … which, if the king is a modest man, leaves the rest of us none the wiser … as it were.

I met such a king recently and it took two years to discover who he was.